Local musicians rock the Film Festival

Aug. 1, 2007

Mike Sullivan, guitarist for the Song of the Lakes folk band and The Turtlenecks jazz trio, has been the hardest workin’ man in showbiz over the past few weeks, rounding up talent to perform at Traverse City Film Festival parties and before the films themselves.
Sullivan estimates that local musicians have donated more than $50,000 to the festival by waiving their fees. For many, the festival offers a chance to be heard by major directors and filmmakers, and it’s not unusual to spot local musicians trying to make a handoff of their CDs to cinematic kingmakers in hopes of landing a spot on an upcoming soundtrack.
Who’s playing where? Sullivan has tried to match specific musicians to appropriate film events. His own band, Song of the Lakes, for instance, will play the opening night party, as Song of the Lakes, and The Turtlenecks will perform at films at all three venues: the Old Towne Playhouse, State Theatre and Lars Hockstad.
Many of the most notable players in the region will lend their talents, including Ron Getz, Neptune Quartet, Dominic Fortuna and Claudia Schmidt.
Blues rocker Jeff “Jabo” Bihlman will perform a must-see warmup along with jam band powerhouse Rootstand before “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on Saturday, Aug. 4 at the TC Open Space.
Some of the best musical action will be at the festival parties. In addition to the local stars mentioned above, standouts include the vocally-gifted Miriam Pico and the funk-rock band Egon (headed by Sullivan’s
son, Kyle), performing at the Friends of the Film Fest bash. Sol de Luna perform classic bossa nova and big band beats with the Ron Getz Trio at the closing party.
Other acts performing throughout the week include the Grand Traverse Highlanders, the Archipelago Group, Tom Kaufmann, Crispin Campbell, 88 Strings, Bob Downes, Brandon Everest, Ingemar Johansson, Dan Kelchal, Ruby John, the Millenials, Mue Sephei, the Overtones, Susan Dan Piano Group, Syrinx Flue Ensemble, Matt Tholer, Jazz North, Genot Picor, Glenn Wolff, and the Windy Ridge Trio, with more additions likely.